There was high drama in the women’s 1500m on day one of the World Athletics Championships, as Ireland’s Sophie O’Sullivan claimed a semi-final spot against the odds.
It has been a difficult season for O’Sullivan, who has battled through injuries throughout 2025 to make it to Tokyo.
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Some felt ahead of Saturday’s heats that a semi-final spot would be too big an ask for the Australian-born Irish runner, but she proved her mettle with an amazing finish.
O’Sullivan entered the home straight in seventh but delivered a big kick in the closing metres, before a dramatic dive to the line secured sixth place by just 0.08 of a second. Her time of 4:02.12 was a season best.
What a leap from Sophie O’Sullivan to reach the 1500m semi-finals at the World Championships! 😅
Sarah Healy is through too after finishing third in her heat ☘#athletics #WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/iO8LKoEwzb
— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) September 13, 2025
Her reaction when the photo finish result popped up on the screens in Tokyo was pure magic.
To reach the semi-finals after the year she has had was a remarkable feat for 23-year-old Sophie O’Sullivan.
Her mam, Irish athletics royalty Sonia, was emotional in the RTÉ studio explaining how proud she was that Sophie had proved her doubters wrong.
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Sonia O’Sullivan explains pride in daughter Sophie
Sonia O’Sullivan was one of RTÉ’s pundits on Saturday morning as her daughter Sophie took on the 1500m heats on the other side of the world.
After the extraordinary finish in Tokyo, Sonia was emotional in summing up her daughter’s achievement.
“I’m delighted, I can’t believe it,” Sonia said.
“I think the main thing for me was that by going to the World Championships, she would just put in a good showing for herself and just get in the mix and do the best she could.
“I never really thought that she would get out of the heat into the semi-final. I thought it might be too big of an ask because she really has only been running for just over two weeks.”
Sophie has made an impressive comeback after spending so much of the season on the sidelines.
Sonia O’Sullivan detailed the massive efforts Sophie had made to get herself in contention merely to travel to Tokyo, and said her resilience shone through in Saturday’s heat.
The World Championships was a carrot in front of Sophie the whole time when she was doing all that cross training and gym training.
She was in Cóbh with me for three weeks and she was up at the Coral Leisure Centre, in there twice a day. I think people thought she was mad, she was doing so much training.
But it’s what athletes do when they’re injured. You work even harder when you know there’s the possibility of a reward at the end of it all.
It was all about getting to the start line. There was definitely a few ups and downs along the way. But, when you get there, then you’ve just got to give it all you got.
She never gave up today. Even when it looked like she was running into a roadblock, she found a way around it.
Sophie O’Sullivan spoke to RTÉ after her race and showed off her battle scars to interviewer David Gillick.
Sophie said she had been in disbelief when the result flashed up, and that it was a sweet reward after such hard work behind the scenes.
“It hasn’t been the smoothest buildup,” O’Sullivan admitted.
I just knew that if I could get to the start line, I could compete. It was all about just maintaining, maintaining on the cross trainer and stuff.
It’s nice to see the work paid off!
It was a little bit of a dive! A bit of a jump! I’ve a little bit of cuts here…I’ve done it to myself, it’s self-inflicted!
A special morning for Sophie O’Sullivan and her mother, Sonia.
Sarah Healy will join O’Sullivan in the 1500m semi-finals, with the European indoor champion finishing third in her heat with a time of 4:02.67.
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